Ongoing concerns ahead of the Ashes

But a combination of early-morning starts, the flat pitches and atmosphere and the fact Bangladesh have all the pulling power of a tramp ensured only a fleeting interest in events on the sub-continent.

Notwithstanding such apathy to the Test series just finished, it has still been possible to glean the positives and negatives from England's performance.

Although there is much truth in the old adage a side can do no more than beat the opposition in front of them, there would seem more questions than answers surrounding the state of Team England eight months ahead of the start of the Ashes in Australia.

First of all the positives from England's 2-0 victory...

Following Andrew Strauss's disrespectful decision to miss the tour, Alastair Cook gained useful captaincy experience and chipped in with important runs.

There were times when Cook's field positions seemed a trifle dogmatic, but he has the wherewithal to develop in the role and is a tangible rival to the fairweather Strauss.

England coach Andy Flower believes Cook will become "a better player, captain and person" for the experience of leading his country, insisting: "He's grown every day, he's feeling a lot more comfortable about leading and he's made some really good decisions. All in all, I think he's done brilliantly."

Cook did not do brilliantly, but he did do all right.

Of the rank and file, the perennially inconsistent Ian Bell enjoyed a splendid series and finally shook a monkey off his back when he scored a century in Mirpur without another player having already made a hundred in the same innings.

Yorkshire's Tim Bresnan – who fell agonisingly short of his maiden Test hundred in Mirpur – impressed in all departments and looks odds-on to be chosen for this summer's return series against Bangladesh, which is followed by the visit of Pakistan and tour of Australia.

Kevin Pietersen, who has seemingly never quite recovered from losing the captaincy following his row with former England coach Peter Moores, returned to form with 99 at Chittagong and 74 not out at Mirpur without ever reaching the heights of which he is capable.

Middlesex fast bowler Steven Finn gained important exposure to the five-day format, just as Yorkshire paceman Ajmal Shahzad benefited similarly during the preceding one-day series, while off-spinner Graeme Swann was his ever reliable self.

All things considered, a team missing Strauss, Graham Onions and Jimmy Anderson could be reasonably satisfied with their overall efforts, which followed the encouraging – if fortuitous – 1-1 draw in South Africa shortly before Christmas.

On the flip side, there are ongoing concerns for Flower and his staff.

Jonathan Trott did not dominate with the bat – despite receiving a couple of contentious decisions during a series plagued by sub-standard umpiring – and some of his fielding would not have looked out of place on a village green.

Stuart Broad managed only six wickets at 46 and was out-bowled by Bresnan, who adapted far better to the docile surfaces as England readjust to life without Andrew Flintoff, with whom it is unfair to compare the Yorkshireman.

James Tredwell, the Kent off-spinner, was a useful foil for Swann and chipped in with six wickets in Mirpur.

But the idea Tredwell is a better bowler or long-term prospect than Yorkshire's Adil Rashid is laughable – England's handling of the latter continuing to baffle.

Aside from the individual pluses and minuses, the bottom line is Bangladesh are a Test team in name only and that England made relatively hard work of polishing them off.

Swann contended he believes the Bangladeshis are steadily improving – it would be somewhat odd if they were not – and that "they are not a pushover anymore".

But the statistics show they have lost 57 of their 66 Tests, which suggests that pushovers is exactly what they are for teams worth their salt.

The reality, alas, is that Bangladesh provide cheap runs and wickets for the leading nations and that their participation at Test level remains deeply unsatisfactory.

Why, even our friends at Test Match Special seemed to echo this fact by keeping their big guns at home and sending the likes of Mark Butcher and Dominic Cork to summarise events – they did not evoke memories of John Arlott and Brian Johnston.

At least Flower had the commonsense to inject a note of caution at his post-match press conference yesterday when he said of his team: "There's a long way to go before we can say we're the finished article."

He can say that again.